2011 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 32A: Children's Code
Article 6A: Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act, 32A-6A-1 through 32A-6A-30
Section 32A-6A-20: Consent to placement in a residential treatment or habilitation program; children younger than fourteen years of age.

32A-6A-20. Consent to placement in a residential treatment or habilitation program; children younger than fourteen years of age.

A. A child younger than fourteen years of age shall not receive residential treatment for a mental disorder or habilitation for a developmental disability, except as provided in this section.

B. A child younger than fourteen years of age may be admitted to a residential treatment or habilitation program for a period not to exceed sixty days with the informed consent of the child's legal custodian, subject to the requirements of this section.

C. In order to admit a child younger than fourteen years of age to a residential treatment or habilitation program, the child's legal custodian shall knowingly and voluntarily execute a consent to admission document prior to the child's admission. The consent to admission document shall be in a form designated by the supreme court. The consent to admission document shall include a clear statement of the legal custodian's right to consent voluntarily to or refuse the child's admission, the legal custodian's right to request the child's immediate discharge from the residential treatment program at any time and the legal custodian's rights when the legal custodian requests the child's discharge and the child's physician, licensed psychologist or the director of the residential treatment or habilitation program determines that the child needs continued treatment. The residential treatment or habilitation program shall ensure that each statement is clearly explained in the child's and legal custodian's primary language, if that is their language of preference, and in a manner appropriate to the child's and legal custodian's developmental abilities. Each statement shall be initialed by the child's legal custodian.

D. The legal custodian's executed consent to admission document shall be filed with the child's treatment records within twenty-four hours of the time of admission.

E. Upon the filing of the legal custodian's consent to admission document in the child's hospital records, the director of the residential treatment or habilitation program or the director's designee shall, on the next business day following the child's admission, notify the district court or the special commissioner appointed pursuant to Section 32A-6A-25 NMSA 1978 regarding the admission and provide the child's name, date of birth and the date and place of admission. The court or special commissioner shall, upon receipt of notice regarding a child's admission to a residential treatment or habilitation program, establish a sequestered court file.

F. The director of a residential treatment or habilitation program or the director's designee shall, on the next business day following the child's admission, petition the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for the child. When the court receives the petition, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem.

G. Within seven days of a child's admission to a residential treatment or habilitation program, a guardian ad litem, representing the child's best interests and in accordance with the provisions of the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act [32A-6A-1 NMSA 1978], shall meet with the child, the child's legal custodian and the child's clinician. The guardian ad litem shall determine the following:

(1) whether the child's legal custodian understands and consents to the child's admission to a residential treatment or habilitation program;

(2) whether the admission is in the child's best interests; and

(3) whether the admission is appropriate for the child and is consistent with the least restrictive means principle.

H. If a guardian ad litem determines that the child's legal custodian understands and consents to the child's admission and that the admission is in the child's best interests, is appropriate for the child and is consistent with the least restrictive means principle, the guardian ad litem shall so certify on a form designated by the supreme court. The form, when completed by the guardian ad litem, shall be filed in the child's patient record kept by the residential treatment or habilitation program, and a copy shall be forwarded to the court or special commissioner within seven days of the child's admission. The guardian ad litem's statement shall not identify the child by name.

I. Upon reaching the age of fourteen, a child who was admitted to a residential treatment or habilitation program pursuant to this section may petition the district court for the records of the district court regarding all matters pertinent to the child's admission to a residential treatment or habilitation program. The district court, upon receipt of the petition and upon a determination that the petitioner is in fact a child who was admitted to a residential treatment or habilitation program, shall provide all court records regarding the admission to the petitioner, including all copies in the court's possession, unless there is a showing that release of records would cause substantial harm to the child. Upon reaching the age of eighteen, a person who was admitted to a residential or treatment or habilitation program as a child may petition the district court for such records, and the district court shall provide all court records regarding the admission to the petitioner, including all copies in the court's possession.

J. A legal custodian who consents to admission of a child to a residential treatment or habilitation program has the right to request the child's immediate discharge from the residential treatment or habilitation program, subject to the provisions of this section. If a child's legal custodian informs the director, a physician or other member of the residential treatment or habilitation program staff that the legal custodian desires the child to be discharged from the program, the director, physician or other staff shall provide for the child's immediate discharge and remit the child to the legal custodian's care. The residential treatment or habilitation program shall also notify the child's guardian ad litem. A child whose legal custodian requests the child's immediate discharge shall be discharged, except when the director of the residential treatment or habilitation program, a physician or a licensed psychologist determines that the child requires continued treatment and that the child meets the criteria for involuntary residential treatment. In that event, the director, physician or licensed psychologist shall, on the first business day following the child's legal custodian's request for release of the child from the program, request that the children's court attorney initiate involuntary residential treatment proceedings. The children's court attorney may petition the court for such proceedings. The child has a right to a hearing regarding the child's continued treatment within seven days of the request for release.

K. A residential treatment or habilitation program shall review the admission of a child at the end of a sixty-day period after the date of initial admission, and the child's physician or licensed psychologist shall review the admission to determine whether it is in the best interests of the child to continue the admission. If the child's physician or licensed psychologist concludes that continuation of the residential treatment or habilitation program is in the child's best interests, the child's clinician shall so state in a form to be filed in the child's patient records. The residential treatment or habilitation program shall notify the guardian ad litem for the child at least seven days prior to the date that the sixty-day period is to end or, if necessary, request a guardian ad litem pursuant to the provisions of the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act. The guardian ad litem shall then personally meet with the child, the child's legal custodian and the child's clinician and ensure that the child's legal custodian understands and consents to the child's continued admission to the residential treatment or habilitation program. If the guardian ad litem determines that the child's legal custodian understands and consents to the child's continued admission to the residential treatment or habilitation program, that the continued admission is in the child's best interest, that the placement continues to be appropriate for the child and consistent with the least restrictive means principle and that the clinician has recommended the child's continued stay in the program, the guardian ad litem shall so certify on a form designated by the supreme court. The disposition of these forms shall be as set forth in this section, with one copy going in the child's patient record and the other being sent to the district court in a manner that preserves the child's anonymity. This procedure shall take place every sixty days following the child's last admission or a guardian ad litem's certification, whichever occurs first.

L. When a guardian ad litem determines that the child's legal custodian does not understand or consent to the child's admission to a residential treatment or habilitation program, that the admission is not in the child's best interests, that the placement is inappropriate for the child or is inconsistent with the least restrictive means principle or that the child's clinician has not recommended a continued stay by the child in the residential treatment or habilitation program, the child shall be released or involuntary placement procedures shall be initiated.

M. If the child's legal custodian is unavailable to take custody of the child and immediate discharge of the child would endanger the child, the residential treatment or habilitation program may detain the child until a safe and orderly discharge is possible. If the child's legal custodian refuses to take physical custody of the child, the residential treatment or habilitation program shall refer the case to the department for an abuse and neglect or family in need of court-ordered services investigation. The department may take the child into protective custody pursuant to the provisions of the Abuse and Neglect Act [32A-4-1 NMSA 1978] or the Family in Need of Court-Ordered Services Act [32A-3B-1 NMSA 1978].